Evansville, In.: With two early goals and more superb goaltending from Kristian Stead, the Thunderbolts held their ground and defeated the Quad City Storm 3-1 at Ford Center on Friday night. The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, November 21st against the Knoxville Ice Bears at 7:00pm CT.
The Thunderbolts again jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period, as Aidan Litke scored off a net-front scramble from Will van der Veen and Derek Contessa at 9:26, followed by Scott Kirton at 10:31 from Joey Berkopec and Isaac Chapman. The first period also featured three fights, Matthew Hobbs against Noah Massie just over a minute in, followed moments later by Van der Veen taking on Davis Kirkendall, concluding with Van der Veen squaring off against Storm captain Tommy Tsicos in the final seconds of the first period. Quad City got back to within one goal early in the second period as Leif Mattson scored on a power play at 2:29 to remove Evansville’s insurance, cutting the lead to 2-1. The Storm were unable to beat Stead again the rest of the way, and Chapman scored into the empty Storm net with 1:36 to go in regulation to seal the deal, 3-1 Evansville the final score, for their fourth consecutive win.
Chapman recorded a goal and assist while Litke and Kirton scored one goal each. In goal, Kristian Stead finished with 36 saves on 37 shots on goal for his 6th win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Storm meet again on Saturday, November 15th at Vibrant Arena at the MARK, with Evansville taking a 2-1 season series lead.
